An embattled nonprofit has a handshake deal with city officials to put down bark mulch, fencing and signs at recently cleared camps. (Sophie Peel)

For the past few months, members of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association and the trash pickup nonprofit We Heart Portland have spread bark dust and put up fences and signs around homeless campsites recently swept by the city along Interstate 405.

The embankments they targeted on either side of I-405 are owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation. While the city of Portland is responsible for clearing tents and trash from such rights of way, City Hall—or anyone else—must get a permit from the state to install other infrastructure such as signs and makeshift fences.

After WW reported the informal partnership between the neighborhood association and nonprofit earlier this week, ODOT told the association to take down the fences and signs, which proclaimed the work was a “neighborhood beautification project” and told passersby not to enter. The association has until Aug. 31 to take down the fencing and signs before the state removes them itself.

“The wire and steel T-posts are not approved on ODOT right of way in this location, presenting a safety hazard for the public,” says ODOT spokesman Don Hamilton. “But we could look at alternatives they may have or propose for approval.”

Stan Penkin, president of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, told WW last week his group and We Heart Portland helped refer an estimated 25 swept campers to shelter.

Neither Penkin nor We Heart Portland leaders responded to WW’s inquiry whether they would take down the stakes and wire. However, stakes and signs remained in place Thursday night for two blocks along the interstate.

We Heart Portland grew out of a similar, embattled nonprofit in Seattle that was rebuffed by the city council there last year. In Portland, the group had a handshake deal with city officials—via the Pearl District Neighborhood Association—to put up signs and fencing on highway embankments to keep homeless campers from returning. For the city’s sweeps team, that presented a helpful one-two punch: infrastructure to make the space look tidier and to deter campers from setting up camp again.

We'll send you a newsletter with what you need to know every week.